Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Helpful Tips a "gadget" that really helps my neck when its bad

this is the first thing that has relieved my major neck pain when it flares, and i've tried a number of things over the years. but this is magic in comparison. but too, i only notice its magic when my neck is in a bad flare.

Ooh I might have to try that. My shoulders, across the top of my back, and my neck, are my worst areas. Could be helpful.

hadn't found the need for it for maybe a few weeks now.

then on friday, went to a christmas party, sat in a chair that i thought would be ok, 5 minutes later realized i was in big trouble. moved to sit on the floor, but by that time, neck and trap spasming, face number, shoulder tight. got home, laid on the floor with my neck thingy for 20 minutes. and got me back to where i was before i sat in that chair. even ice and heat don't work that well.

more and more i'm convinced that most of my upper back stuff is due to nerve entrapment at the lower neck. but just as oddly as i can't figure out why some chairs are evil, can't figure out why this neck thingy works as well as it does. just glad i plunked down the money for this one.

I wonder, does this keep the spine straight or pitch it forward a bit. I would love to have something that made sleeping comfortable, but have been warned to remain straight as I can at all times.

Still, even if it will help with the flares (I have one now) it will be worth the money. Next paycheck for me. Thanks for the share!

Also, do you think being on the computer causes neck flares? This seems to be when my neck gets most aggravated.

hi, my impression (of why it works so well for me) is that it puts that part of the spine (the c-spine / neck) in perfect neutral "straight" alignment and that allows the nerves to stop being compressed and the muscles to stop spasming. at least that's how it seems to work for me.

but they do say not to sleep on it, only use it for maybe 20-30 minutes, and only use it on a hard surface like the floor, to help align that area and allow the muscles to stop spasming. with that said, it relaxed me so completely that i've fallen asleep on the floor for up to an hour while using it and it was ok.

I use this ( www.arc4life.com) and won,t sleep without it.I had a double bulge c4,c5. Felt like I was getting electric shocks in both arms,numbness tingling,and the muscle spasms that wounldn't go away.
With the traction units,and the pillow,it helped my neck tremendously.4yrs later,I still have some symtoms and must be very careful what I can lift,but I really think the pillow works.I get 6 to 7 hrs of traction while I sleep.

i like the looks of that, thanks for the link. looks like it might be worth investigating.

once i discovered the thin feather pillow, sleep has been ok, before that it certainly wasn't. but this looks like something else to consider.

monday i had facet joint injections where the bone spurs are located. surprised how much it has helped already, just a few days out. not a permanent solution, as the bone spurs aren't going away on their own, but some respite is always nice. can turn my neck more completely and the spasms in my upper traps, rhomboids already better after a few days; chiro confirmed that yesterday. still doesn't mean i won't continue to do the things for my neck and upper back that have become habit, but now those things may help even more.

Sue,

I have been having the facet joint injection's but haven't tried the Rhizotomies there yet. I have noticed though that the injection's are not working as well as they used to. I use a Theracane to get rid of the trigger point's all around the neck at at the base of my neck and that has helped. Have they suggested surgery to get rid of you're bone spur's? I am going to have to go have this bulging disc looked at in my lower back and I know the surgeon will order new m.r.i's up the rest of the back and the neck. Just wondered if you were going to have surgery.

hi,

no surgery for me, at least not in the near future.

one doctor (a physiatrist) told me flat out that surgery was out of the question; but of course she thought the best course of action was "behavioral therapy" so really i can't put much stock in anything else she said that day.

right now i'm seeing an "interventionalist" who basically does facet joint cortisone injections and nerve ablations. so that is what he'd do. if i had gone to an orthopedic surgeon, (s)he'd probably see surgery.

from the little bit of reading i've done, surgery seems like a very final option. something to do when all else fails.

a week and a half later, have a pretty good idea of what the shots did for me. the shots were on the left side (where the bone spurs are). i can turn my head to the right without it hurting on the right. there's basically no pain in that spot on the right now where there used to be. when i sit in the car, the pain and muscle spasms into the rhomboid area are gone, but i still get the numbness right behind the ear (on the neck) and into the face and still get the tight / spasming muscles in the outer part of the shoulder / infraspinatus muscles.

i'll see the interventionalist that did the injections in 6-7 weeks, so the only medical person i've spoken to about this has been my chiropractor. he says that its still the C5-C6-C7 nerves, but less so. and like me, he thinks this is an indication that the shots partially did what they were supposed to do and also an indication that my symptoms in my upper back / neck / shoulder were from the nerves being impinged in those facet joints. he thinks that a series of injections could give me further relief, and give the nervous system some time to settle down.

will see how long the results last........

for now, no surgery. i get the impression that bulging discs can be "repaired" easier than bone spurs removed.

at some point it might be worth my talking to a surgeon, but not now, if more conservative treatments are working.

i still can't really travel (in a car) any distance (without ice packs), but i did get partial relief.

as for triggerpoint therapy. pressing on my trigger points, only activates them, rather than making them go away. but a modified "active release therapy" (ART) (modified meaning much more gently done than normal ART, as my body can't handle anything too aggressive), where the triggerpoints are pressed much much more gently while the muscles are moved, that works for me to some extent. but the nerves constantly being compressed means that my body is constantly working the other way.

however, the best thing for my triggerpoints has been triggerpoint injections (just a little lidocaine into the triggerpoints); really releases them. takes a lot longer for them to come back that way. a lot longer.

this interventionalist also does triggerpoint injections, and he had even questioned me about doing them into my upper trap (where the neck and shoulder kind of blend together). i think this is something i will bring up with him at the next appointment. triggerpoint injections really are effective for me.

but if pressing on yours with the theracane work, go for it. if that worked for me, i'd do it. but for me, it just makes them worse.

walking, movement, seems to help a lot as well.

and using the therabands and doing other exercises to keep the muscles as strong as possible, also important.

as are stretches. corner stretch is one of the best.

and my zanaflex at bedtime, something else that is useful.

but no surgery for now..........